Category: Peace

The UN recommended 1,358 Syrian refugees for resettlement in Britain during the first quarter of 2018, of whom only four were Christians. Britain agreed to resettle 1,112 of these refugees, all of whom were Muslims, and refused to accept the Christians.

“As last year’s statistics more than amply demonstrate, this is not a statistical blip. It shows a pattern of discrimination that the Government has a legal duty to take concrete steps to address.” — Lord David Alton of Liverpool, in a letter to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

What specific initiatives, other than empty words, does the UK government aim to take to rectify the damage that has already been done and to prevent it from happening again?

The British government appears recently to have decided that it would like to give the impression that it cares about persecuted Christians. Prime Minister Theresa May said in Parliament on July 18:

“As a Government we stand with persecuted Christians all over the world and will continue to support them. It is hard to comprehend that today we still see people being attacked and murdered because of their Christianity, but we must reaffirm our determination to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions and beliefs and for them to be able to practise their beliefs in peace and security.”

The British Government even recently appointed its first Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief with Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, a former minister, filling the post. According to the government, the role “will promote the UK’s firm stance on religious tolerance abroad, helping to tackle religious discrimination in countries where minority faith groups face persecution”.

Prime Minister May said she looked “forward to supporting [Lord Ahmad] in this new role as he works with faith groups and governments across the world to raise understanding of religious persecution and what we can do to eliminate it.”

Perhaps the UK should not be so quick to preach to others, when it does not appear to be doing much at home to help Syrian Christians, who have been among the most persecuted for their faith since the civil war in Syria began seven years ago:

According to information obtained from the UK Home Office by the Barnabas Fund, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during the first quarter of 2018, recommended 1,358 Syrian refugees for resettlement in the UK, of which only four refugees were Christians (no Yazidis were recommended). The Home Office agreed to resettle 1,112 of these refugees, all of whom were Muslims, and refused to accept the Christians.

This decision was made despite the fact that approximately 10% of the pre-2011 population of Syria was Christian – a number that has reportedly fallen to 5%. There were also an estimated 70,000 Yazidis in Syria. Yazidis, with Christians, were among the groups most viciously targeted by ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In 2017, moreover, according to the Barnabas Fund, the UNHCR recommended 7,060 Syrian refugees for resettlement in the UK, of whom only 25 were Christians and seven were Yazidis. The Home Office ended up accepting 4,850 Syrian refugees – of whom only 11 were Christians.

While the UK appears to favor Muslim refugees over Christian ones, the fault does not lie with the UK alone. Lord David Alton of Liverpool, a life peer in the House of Lords, wrote in a letter to Home Secretary Sajid Javid:

“There is widespread belief, justified or not, among the religious minorities of Syria that the UNHCR is biased against them. The UK has a legal obligation to ensure it does not turn a blind eye to either direct or indirect perceived discrimination by the UN.

“It is widely accepted that Christians, who constituted around 10 per cent of Syria’s pre-war population, were specifically targeted by jihadi rebels and continue to be at risk.

“…As last year’s statistics more than amply demonstrate, this is not a statistical blip. It shows a pattern of discrimination that the Government has a legal duty to take concrete steps to address.”

There certainly does appear to be “a pattern of discrimination” that has been ongoing since at least 2015. According to the Barnabas Fund, the UNHCR, in 2016, recommended 7,499 refugees to the UK, of whom only 27 were Christians and five were Yazidis. In 2015, out of 2,637 recommended refugees, 43 were Christians and 13 were Yazidis.

In December 2016, Nina Shea, Director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute, asked the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees at the time, António Guterres, to explain the disproportionately low number of Syrian Christians resettled abroad by the UN. “Mr. Guterres said that generally Syria’s Christians should not be resettled, because they are part of the ‘DNA of the Middle East,'” writes Shea.

Guterres’ statement was a blunt admission of the UN’s apparent disregard for Christian lives, not least because only 9 months earlier, in March 2016, US Secretary of State John Kerry had said, “(ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims”. The UN itself stated in September 2005:

“[A]t the United Nations World Summit, all Member States formally accepted the responsibility of each State to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. that all member states had accepted “the responsibility of each State to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity… world leaders also agreed that when any State fails to meet that responsibility, all States (the “international community”) are responsible for helping to protect people threatened with such crimes.”.

The apparent discrimination against Christians by the United Kingdom and the UNHCR is all the more disturbing in light of studies that find Christians to be the most persecuted faith in the world. Christians are “the most widely targeted religious community, suffering terrible persecution globally”, according to a 2017 study by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, the Religious Freedom Institute and Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Research Project. In June, the ninth annual Pew Research Center report on global religious restrictions also found that Christianity was still the world’s most persecuted faith, with Christians being harassed in more countries (144) than any other group.

In light of these facts, it would certainly appear, as Lord Alton states in his letter, that the UK has indeed been “turning a blind eye” to the plight of Christian (and Yazidi) refugees for several years. Now that May has announced that her government stands with persecuted Christians all over the world, the question remains: What specific initiatives, other than empty words, does the UK government aim to take to rectify the damage that has already been done and to prevent further damage?

Central America is bordered in the north by Mexico where increased caution for travel is advised, to the south is Colombia which warns travellers to exercise Increased Caution. That leaves the people escaping their pure fear with either the Pacific Ocean to the West or the Caribbean Sea to the East. There are no alternatives for escaping danger.

Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, being sworn in as the 84th Attorney General of the United States

Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, 84th and current Attorney General of the United States claims that the Bible has given the current US government draconian legal and moral justification for separating children from their parents whilst they seek asylum. This policy I feel is an outrageous act against human life and dignity.

The US president trumped-up the story and blamed another political party for a “horrible law” separating immigrant children from their parents. But it was actually his own administration that had introduced this arbitrary policy. Under Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions IIIs’ new “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, everyone who attempts to cross the border — even those seeking genuine asylum — are being arrested and prosecuted. Because of the way that policy is enforced, almost 2,000 children have been separated from their parents in six weeks.

Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ new “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, everyone who attempts to cross the border — even those seeking asylum — are being prosecuted.

Because of the way that policy is enforced, almost 2,000 children have been separated from their parents in six weeks.

Experts, mental health groups, and human rights organisations all say this could cause serious, lasting harm to children and their parents.

It is perplexing that Mr. Sessions’ tries to justify his ludicrous defence of the

Is Romans 13 perhaps not about resisting Tyranny?

governments administration’s policy by citing Romans 13, he not only exposes his lack of belief in God – but also his lack of biblical knowledge, perhaps he or his staff should stop using Google to find quotes for him to use in their campaigns and actually read the Bible themselves, then they might be able to apply its teachings correctly. One wonders which one of his Aides patted himself on the back for finding a quote Mr. Sessions III used so shamelessly, inaccurately and totally out of context (The interpretative factor for biblical interpretation needs to be in the correct frame of reference, contextual relationship and circumstances. This point holds specific sway when using Romans 13:1-7 where the Apostle Paul is writing to the Gentile believers in Rome to obey, not Roman secular and pagan authority, but to obey the God-ordained authority in Rome.)

So you see this verse has absolutely no correlation to Mr. Sessions III’s comments with one’s relationship to a government, whether the Roman Empire in the first century or any government of today. I would also add that if one is an advocate of the separation of Church and State, then the state should avoid using scriptures in its commentary, failing

Backers of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Bill also used Rom. 13

to do it correctly can only be accepted as a lack off knowledge. Mr. Sessions quoting the Bible in the public forum therefore raises a need for the re-evaluation of the separation between Church and State. One should ask are you a secular government or one that follows the Commandments of God? Romans 13 is about respecting the law, but it has been used by the US government in the past to justify their actions that people of real faith today would regard as human atrocities, most particularly slavery; it was used to give legitimatisation to the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1793 which required the return of runaway slaves.

Many feel that if Mr. Sessions’ ruling are left unchallenged, many thousands of asylum-seekers who genuinely require aid will actually be endangered even further. The United States has frequently justified their administration’s crackdown on immigrants by maintaining that all migrants are “criminals.” Whilst in a lot of cases, they are actually the victims of criminals. The US has further claimed that most people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are unskilled economic migrants intent on stealing jobs from the American people, when again the opposite is true. Fiscal studies have shown that immigrants mostly contribute to the overall economy of a hosting nation. It is in the best interest of the immigrants to want to contribute, they feel useful, are able to provide for their families and live (the so often overused propaganda) “The American Dream”. I have often heard the above excuses being used by unemployed UK nationals who claim they do not have a job because of immigrants. The reason they do not have a job in fact is because they are unwilling to do the difficult work of picking fruit, cleaning houses, cutting lawns and caring for children and elderly, sweeping streets, refuse collection as they feel that it is beneath them or it does not pay enough for them to get out of bed.

The US Catholic Bishops Conference stated “We consider it worth re-starting what our brother bishops of Central America have to say about the fundamental issue which most directly relates to the policy of our own government, that of the problem of violence, of war and of peace: “Armed violence has come to several of our republics, and with it the danger of turning into a regional conflict. This violence continues to bear down on our countries, causing forced displacement of people within each country, the painful drama of refugees, widows and orphans whose numbers grow constantly, the abandonment of farms, the increasing unemployment, hunger and illness, the lack of doctors and medicines. “And though the causes of conflicts were internal, two outside forces have come into play: the ideological, generally Marxist, on the part of the revolutionary groups, and the other, that of national security which generally issues in repression by the military and the intervention of superpowers seeking to maintain spheres of influence; in their quest for a perilous balance of power, they feed the arms race, incite militarisation and place the peace of the region at permanent risk.

“We can do no less than condemn the war and the consequent sending of arms to Central America and we issue a fervent invitation to the dialogue for peace.”

Why are people seeking refuge in the USA? because of cartel wars and corrupt politicians (some put in power by the US)

Why are people seeking refuge in the USA? because of cartel wars and corrupt politicians (some put in power by the US)

The Foreign Office in the UK advises against travel to many Central American Countries stating “The FCO in the UK advise against all but essential travel to the areas of…” The U.S. Department of State issues travel warnings and travel alerts for Central America which is bordered by Mexico in the north which has Exercise Increased Caution, Belize is the same, El Salvador reconsider travel, Guatemala reconsider, Honduras reconsider, Nicaragua reconsider, to the southeast which is bordered by Colombia has Exercise Increased Caution. To the East is the Caribbean Sea and to the West the Pacific Ocean. So where can these desperate people turn to if not the United States, the land of the free, of opportunity, the police force of the world?

Let us for one moment look at why these people are seeking refuge. Jonathan Hiskey’s (Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies at Vanderbilt University) research shows that pure fear drives many migrants to leave home. With 60 murders per 100,000 people in 2017, El Salvador was the deadliest place in the world that was not at war. Almost 4,000 people were killed there last year. Professor Hiskey states “An increasing number of individuals are now arriving at the U.S. southwest border because of crime, violence and insecurity in Central America,” Other Central Americans flee home because of unbridled gang violence. Such migrants would typically surrender at the border and request asylum, explains a US immigration solicitor. The refugees are now being arrested before they can even surrender to the border security agents. International refugee law, which the U.S. has incorporated into domestic law, requires signatory countries to offer protection to people who demonstrate a well-founded fear of certain kinds of severe harm in their home countries. Their persecution must be related to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or their particular social group. A symptom of a far more critical issue plaguing the region – namely, corruption. Prosecutors in Honduras and El Salvador have discovered numerous financial links between MS-13 and high-ranking government officials, “they shield criminal organisations in exchange for economic support and political backing in gang-controlled barrios,” and these illicit relationships have “shattered most efforts to build the kinds of criminal justice institutions necessary to support a democratic society.” As a result, criminals can extort, threaten and kill with impunity. In 2014, 99% of all murders in Honduras went unsolved.

US holding cages for children. A reminder of Guantanamo Bay for children?

Since, by definition, refugees are not protected by their own governments, the international community steps in to ensure they are safe and protected,” said the UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency. The treaty was amended in 1967, in part to include refugees from around the world. According to the provisions, “refugees deserve, as a minimum, the same standards of treatment enjoyed by other foreign nationals in a given country and, in many cases, the same treatment as Green shading indicates unoccupied Census Blocks where statistically it is regarded as having 0% population. A single inhabitant is enough to omit a block from shading. Map by nic. nationals,” the UNHCR said. The United States is a signatory of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, they acceded the treaty (acceded is the formal acceptance of a treaty or agreement) on the 1st Of November 1968.

Green shading indicates unoccupied Census Blocks where statistically it is regarded as having 0% population. A single inhabitant is enough to omit a block from shading. Map by nic.

When one considers that according to US Census figures in 2002, 47% of the United States is actually uninhabited which makes the situation even more ludicrous. Whilst I understand some of these areas are deserts or non arable it does not make the uninhabitable and can be turned into habitable and “profitable” (we have to use the word profitable of the politicians will not listen to the argument), so there is room for those seeking asylum. Furthermore you have to remember that most of the people living in the USA are descendants from immigrants that were escaping conditions that they considered unfavourable in Europe (even if it was to the detriment of the First Nations People).

The difficulty for Sessions is that the historical situation in which Paul wrote his letter to the Romans actually undermine his policy rather than support it. This particular point makes Romans a bad defence of the policy Mr. Sessions is pursuing. Prior to the verse Mr. Sessions recently quoted in Romans 13, Paul also wrote that: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Below the verse that Mr. Sessions used for respect of a government the Apostle Paul sums up by encouraging the reader to: “Love your neighbour as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

The flight of so many hundreds of thousands of Central Americans from their homelands over this decade, including the desperate efforts of unprecedented numbers to seek refuge in the United States, is the clearest sign of the human tragedy that besets the region. We should urge the government that their plight be given the high attention it deserves and that the needs of these persons be generously responded to by the United States.

Specifically, I would urge parishes, religious communities and social service agencies to increase their already commendable assistance to all refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons in need. Being conscious in a special way at this time of those who may not fulfil the legal requirements of the present legislation on legalisation. Please urge the US government to interpret the conditions for granting political asylum as broadly and generously as possible and strongly urge that even those Central Americans who are not able to make a prima facie claim to refugee status under the law be allowed, on humanitarian grounds, to remain here temporarily under the conditions of what is known as extended voluntary departure status.

In closing we would would like to offer a few quotes for Mr Sessions and the US government in the spirit of Christian education and in providing refuge to the oppressed. You will always find a biblical quote backing up any draconian dictatorial rule Mr. Sessions especially when used out of context as is often done by Machiavellian politicians who claim religious adherence (especially during elections) of one sort or another.

BAD LEADERSIP
These two bible verse is specifically for those who currently hold the reigns of power in the US government. “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds? You ate the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed. The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand. And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd: and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill: and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd: for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks: (Ezekiel 34:1-8)

THOSE WHO TWIST THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE
Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace. And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:14-18)

And scriptures that Mr. Sessions III should be applying are as follows:

LOVE REFUGEES AS YOURSELF
If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not upbraid him: But let him be among you as one of the same country: and you shall love him as yourselves: for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

LEAVE FOOD FOR THE POOR AND THE FOREIGNER
When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt thou gather the ears that remain. Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down in thy vineyard, but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to take. I am the Lord your God.. (Leviticus 19:9-10)

GOD LOVES THE FOREIGNER RESIDING AMONG YOU
He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and raiment. And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

THE SIN OF SODOM: THEY DID NOT HELP THE POOR AND NEEDY
Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her daughters: and they did not put forth their hand to the needy, and to the poor. (Ezekiel 16:49)

DO NOT OPPRESS A FOREIGNER
Thou shalt not molest a stranger, for you know the hearts of strangers: for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)

DO NOT DEPRIVE FOREIGNERS AMONG YOU OF JUSTICE
And I will come to you in judgment, and will be a speedy witness against sorcerers, and adulterers, and false swearers, and them that oppress the hireling in his wages; the widows, and the fatherless: and oppress the stranger, and have not feared me, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5)

DO WHATEVER THE FOREIGNER ASKS OF YOU
Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they shall hear everywhere of thy great name and thy mighty hand. And thy stretched out arm,) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name:. (1 Kings 8:41-44)

LEAVE YOUR DOOR OPEN TO THE TRAVELER
The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the traveller. (Job, discussing his devotion to God) (Job 31:32)

INVITE THE STRANGER IN
And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine. And his lord answering, said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed: Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury. Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. (Matthew 25:25-36)

WE WERE ALL BAPTISED BY ONE SPIRIT
For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptised into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink. For the body also is not one member, but many.. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF
For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Galatians 5:14)

HAVE MERCY ON YOUR NEIGHBOUR
But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee. Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers? But he said: He that shewed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou in like manner. (Luke 10:29-37)

May Mary, pilgrim of faith, be with them in this difficult stage in their history and grant them from her son the precious gift of reconciliation and of peace.

To understand how fundamental it is for the development of Christian life to strive to acquire and preserve peace of heart, the first thing we must be convinced of is that all the good we can do comes from God and from him alone. “for without me you can do nothing”[1], said Jesus. He did not say: “You cannot do great things”, but “You cannot do anything”. It is essential for us to be convinced of this truth. We will often need failures, humiliations and trials – permitted by God – because…

To understand how fundamental it is for the development of Christian life to strive to acquire and preserve peace of heart, the first thing we must be convinced of is that all the good we can do comes from God and from him alone. “for without me you can do nothing”[1], said Jesus.He did not say: “You cannot do great things”, but “You cannot do anything”.It is essential for us to be convinced of this truth.We will often need failures, humiliations and trials – permitted by God – because this truth cannot be grasped by our intelligence only, but become experiences for our whole being.God, if he could, would spare us all these tests, but they are necessary to make us discover our innate impossibility to do good alone.According to the testimony from the saints, it is indispensable to acquire the knowledge of our limits, because it is the suitable ground in which all the great things that the Lord will do in us with the power of his grace will flourish.This is why St. Theresa of the Child Jesus said that the greatest thing the Lord had done in her soul was to have shown her, was how small and powerless she really was.If we earnestly study the words in the Gospel of John, quoted above, then we begin to understand that the fundamental problem of our spiritual life becomes this: How to let Jesus act in us? How can we allow God’s grace to work freely in our lives?

We must not therefore force ourselves to do things according to our plans and our competencies, but we must try to find out what the dispositions of our soul allows us to act in us.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain.[2]So to the question: “What can we do to allow God’s grace to act freely in our lives?”There is no single answer, for a recipe that suits everyone.To answer fully, we should write a treatise on spiritual life in which we speak of prayer, of the sacraments, of purification of the heart, of docility to the Holy Spirit and of all the ways through which God’s grace comes to flood within us.We do not really intend to do it, we simply want to treat one aspect of spiritual life, today too often forgotten.It is about this essential truth: to allow God’s grace to act and produce within us – of course with our cooperation – all these “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them”[3], it is extremely important that we strive to acquire and preserve inner peace, peace of heart.

For a better understanding, we will use an image (not to be taken too literally, like all comparisons). Consider the surface of a lake on which the sun shines: if this is calm and tranquil, the sun will reflect it almost perfectly and the more perfect the lake calmer it will be.Otherwise, the image of the sun would not be able to perfectly reflected upon it.The same thing happens with our soul, towards God: the more calm it is, the more God is reflected in it, his image improves in us and his grace acts through us.If instead our soul is agitated and troubled, the action of grace becomes considerably more difficult to perform.All the good we can do is a reflection of the higher Good that is God.The more our soul is calm and surrendered, the more this Good is communicated to us and through us, to others.“The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.”[4]

Our God is the God of peace.He speaks and does not work unless in peace, not in disruption and disconcertment.Let us therefore recall the experience of the prophet Elijah on Mount Horeb: “the Lord is not in the wind, the Lord is not in the earthquake.The Lord is not in the fire, and after the fire a whistling of a gentle air.”[5]

We often get agitated, we worry about trying to solve everything by ourselves, while it would be much more effective to remain calm, under the gaze of God, letting him act and work in us with his wisdom and his power, which is immeasurably far superior to ours.“For thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength be. And you would not.”[6]

Of course, ours does not want to be, an invitation to laziness and inactivity; but an exhortation not to act, moved by a spirit of restlessness and excessive haste, but under the mild and peaceful impulse of the Spirit of God.St. Vincent de Paul, the least suspect of laziness, said: “The good that God works by himself, almost without anyone noticing it.We must be more passive than active; so that God alone will do, through you, what all men together could not do without him.”

2. INNER PEACE AND APOSTOLIC FRUITFULNESS.

This search for inner peace may seem to some, very selfish: why make this the main objective, while in the world there is so much suffering and so much misery?To this observation we must first of all respond that the peace in question is that of the Gospel.It has nothing to do with a sort of impassivity, of the death of sensibility, of cold indifference closed in upon itself, as with certain attitudes in yoga or certain statues of Buddha might suggest to us.On the contrary, as we shall see later, the peace we are talking about is the essential consequence of the heart of a true openness to the suffering of one’s neighbour and of genuine compassion.Since only this peace of heart is there for us, it increases our sensitivity to others and makes us available to others.

In addition we will say that only the man who enjoys this inner peace can effectively help a brother. Can you, in fact, give peace to others if you do not first possess it?Can there be peace in families, in society, among the people, if there is no peace in their hearts to begin with?

“Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved,” said St. Seraphim of Sarov,[7] a great and holy eighteenth-century Russian saint.To acquire this inner peace, he made an effort to live in ceaseless prayer.After sixteen years of monastic life and twenty-five of eremitic life, he was attacked by a gang of thieves, he never resisted, they beat him mercilessly with the handle of his own ax, leaving him for dead; leaving Seraphim with a hunched back for the rest of his life.He spent 5 months recovering and then Seraphim spent 1,000 successive nights on a rock in continuous prayer with his arms raised to the sky, a Herculean feat of asceticism, especially considering the pain from his injuries.He then remained another sixteen years as a recluse in a cell.He had begun to radiate in a visible way what had been done within his soul, after only forty-eight years of contemplative life.But with what fruits! He became immensely sought-after due to his powers of healing and gift of prophecy.His ability to answer his guests’ questions before they could ask. Thousands of pilgrims went to him and left, comforted, freed from doubts and anxieties, enlightened as to their vocation, healed in body and soul.

The exhortation of Saint Seraphim does nothing but bear witness to his personal experience, identical to that of many other saints.The attainment and perpetuation of inner peace, impossible without prayer, should be considered a priority, especially for those who claim to want to do good to others.Otherwise, we would often talk to those who are in difficulty with our own anxieties only.

3. PEACE AND SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE

It is now necessary to dwell on yet another truth, which is no less important: Christian life is a struggle, a war without respite.Saint Paul invites us, in his letter to the Ephesians, to cover ourselves in the armour of God to fight “Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power.Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).”[8]He describes the components in detail, all the pieces of armour that we must wear and why.

Every Christian must be convinced that his spiritual life cannot under any circumstances be reduced to a quiet flow of days without history, but has to be in a place of constant struggle (against evil, temptations, discouragement), sometimes it can be painful and which will end only at our death.This inescapable struggle must be interpreted as an extremely positive actuality.Since we “make war that we may live in peace,”[9] [10] there can be no victory without a struggle.This conflict is precisely the locus of our purification and spiritual growth, with this approach we learn to know ourselves, our weaknesses and God in his infinite mercy.It is, ultimately, the way chosen by God for our metamorphoses and our glorification.

Notwithstanding the spiritual battle of the Christian, although sometimes tough, it is never the despairing war of those who fight in solitude, blindly, without any certitude regarding the outcome of the confrontation.It is the struggle of those who fight with absolute certainty, that victory is already assured, because the Lord has risen: “And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Judah,[11] the root of David, hath prevailed….”[12]Thus, let us not fight alone with our strength, but with the Lord who tells us: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me,”[13] our main weapon is not our habitual firmness of character nor our human abilities, but our faith, this total adhesion to Christ, that permits us, even at our worst moments, to abandon with blind faith to the one who will not abandon. “I can do all these things in him who strengtheneth me.”[14]And again: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?”[15]

The Christian therefore battles with energy, called to resist “For you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”[16]But he does so with a calm heart and his struggle is all the more effective the more his heart dwells in peace.Since it is this inner peace that allows him to fight not with his own strength – which would be less – but with that of God.

4.PEACE: THE COMMON GOAL OF SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE.

We have already said that the believer in all of his battles, whatever the violence, will endeavour to preserve peace of heart to let the God of the host fight in him.Aptly, he must be cognisant of the fact that: inner peace is not only a condition of spiritual struggle, it is – very often – the end.It is quite frequent that the spiritual battle consists precisely of this: defending interior peace from our enemies who’s impetus is to steal it away.

If truth be told, one of the usual strategies used by the devil to drive back soul from God and thus, delaying the spiritual process, is to try to make you lose your inner peace, this is what Lorenzo Scupoli,[17] one of the greatest spiritual masters of the sixteenth century says on the subject: “The devil does his utmost to banish peace from one’s heart, because he knows that God abides in peace and it is in peace that He accomplishes great things.”It will be very useful to remember this because often, in the daily conduct of our Christian life, it happens that we are wrong to fight – if we can say so – that we misguide our efforts. We fight on a terrain where the devil drags us subtly and on which he can win, instead of fighting on the real battlefield where, with God’s grace, we are always sure to win.This is one of the great secrets of spiritual struggle: not to fight, to discern, despite the cunning of the adversary, against what we must really fight and where to direct our efforts.

It is wrong to believe that in order to restore victory in the spiritual struggle, it is necessary to overcome all our faults, never succumb to temptation, to have no more weaknesses or shortcomings.On this terrain we will inevitably be defeated!Which one of us can claim they have never fallen?This is most certainly not what God requires from us, “For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust.”[18]On the contrary, the real spiritual struggle, more than pursuing an invincibility and an absolute infallibility that is out of our reach, consists mainly in learning not to get upset when we happen to be miserable and to know how to take advantage of our falls so as to rise higher.Which is always possible, provided you do not lose heart and keep calm.

One could therefore rightly profess this principle: the first objective of the spiritual struggle, to which our efforts must be inclined, is not to always obtain a victory (over our temptations, over our weaknesses, etc.), it is rather, to learn to safeguard one’s own heart in peace under all circumstances, even on the instance of a defeat.Only by doing so can we reach the other goal which is the gradual eradication of all our imperfections.

We must therefore aim for this complete victory over our faults and desire it, but remaining aware that our own forces are not enough, and not expect to obtain it immediately.Moreover, only the grace of God who will give us the victory, his action will be all the more powerful and swift if we keep our soul in peace and abandon ourselves with trust into the hands of the Father.

5. THE REASONS AS TO WHY WE LOSE PEACE ARE ALWAYS WICKED REASONS

One of the dominant aspects of spiritual struggle is the struggle on the level of thoughts. Often it consists in opposing thoughts that come from our spirit, or from the mentality that surrounds us, or from the enemy that disturb us, frighten us or discourage us, thoughts that can comfort us and restore peace in us.In anticipation of this struggle, “Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate”[19] the weapons, which are good thoughts, namely those solid convictions based on faith, which nourish the intelligence and strengthen the heart at the moment of trial.Among these weapons in the hero’s hand, one of the statements that must remain close at hand is that, all the reasons that make us stray from peace, are always bad reasons.

This conviction certainly cannot be based on human considerations, but it is a certainty of faith, founded on the word of God.It does not hinge on global the reasons; Jesus told us quite clearly: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.”[20]If we seek peace as the world gives it, that is, if we expect a peace according to the criteria of life that make the inner state depend on the good performance of external things, the absence of contradictions, the realisation of all our desires, etc. ., surely we will never be at peace, or our peace will be extremely fragile and short-lived.

For us believers, the essential reason for which we can always remain in peace does not come from the world: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence,”[21] says Jesus; It comes from our trust in the promise of the Lord.When He proclaims to give us peace, to leave us peace, this is the divine word and has the same creative force as that which began the cycle of the earth to rise from nothing; it is the same power as the one that calmed the tempest or healed the sick, the same that resurrected the dead.Because Jesus said – twice! – that he gives us His peace and we believe we have His peace and that it is never withdrawn:“For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.”[22]We are the ones who do not know how to accept and preserve them, because very often, we lack faith.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.”[23]In Jesus we can always continue in peace, because he has conquered the world, he has conquered every evil and sin, because he has risen from the dead.With his death he triumphed over death, he repealed the sentence and conviction that oppressed us and thereby expressing God’s benevolence toward us.”What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who is against us?”[24] … “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?”[25]

From this unshakeable foundation of faith, we will examine further on, some situations in which we often happen to lose more or less peace of heart, trying to overcome the light of the Gospel teaching.But first we need to understand what it is, on our part, the fundamental condition for being able to receive the peace promised by Jesus.

6. GOODWILL, A NECESSARY CONDITION FOR PEACE

The inner peace we are dealing with depends fundamentally on our attitude towards God. Inner peace is a gift of God, the man who opposes him, who more or less consciously avoiding or evading his appeals or his needs, cannot enjoy true peace.Despite that, let us note that: when someone is close to God, loves him and wants to serve him, he will be open to receive the gift of peace; the ordinary strategy, put in place by the devil, will consist in trying to make him lose this peace of heart, while God, on the contrary, comes to his help and renders it to him.The factors of this covenant are reversed for a person whose heart is far from God and who lives in evil and in indifference: the devil will try to reassure them, to keep them in a false peace; while alternatively the Lord, who’s impulse is to give salvation and convert him, it will disturb and agitate his conscience to try to lead him to repentance.The peace of a man cannot be absolute and permanent, if he is far from God, if his deepest will is not entirely directed towards him:“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”[26]

A necessary condition for inner peace is therefore what we could call goodwill.It could also be called purity of heart.It is the constant and stable state of mind of man decided to love God more than anything else, sincerely desirous of placing all circumstances of God ’s will to his. It may happen – will definitely happen – that in life all the days his behaviour is not in keeping with this purpose.Many imperfections will add up in the realisation of this desire, but he will suffer, they may ask the Lord for forgiveness and try to correct themselves.After any loss, we will strive to return to say yes to God in everything, without exception.

Observe what ‘goodwill’ is.It is not perfect, since it may well coexist with reluctance, imperfections, with mistakes, but it is a way towards it, why is this normal heart available (based on virtues such as faith, hope, charity), which empowers it with the grace of God and will lead us gradually, toward perfection.

This goodwill, this habitual determination to always say yes to God in both large and small things, is a “conditio sine qua non”[27] of inner peace.Until we have acquired this determination, a certain uneasiness and a certain sadness will continue to remain in us: the restlessness of not loving God as much as he invites us to love him, the sadness of not having yet given him everything.Because the man who has given his will to God, is secure in the belief that he has already given him everything.As long as our heart has not found its harmony, we cannot be truly at peace.It will not be unified in the moment when all our desires will be subordinated to the desire of loving God, to please him and to do his will.This implies, of course, the determination to detach us from everything that would be contrary to God.

7. GOODWILL, AN ADEQUATE CONDITION FOR PEACE

We can also proclaim that this goodwill is enough to keep one’s heart in peace, even if, despite this, we still have many imperfections and shortcomings: “gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis”.[28] In fact, what does God ask us, if not this goodwill?What more could he expect, he who is a good and compassionate Father, when he sees that his son wants to love him above all things, suffers from not loving him enough and is willing (even if he considers himself unable to do so with his own strength) to break away from everything that would be against it?Is it not for God to intervene personally so as to bring fruition to these desires which man, left to his own competences, is not able to perceive?

To support of what has just been said – goodwill is enough to make us pleasing to God and therefore to be at peace – here is an episode of the life of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, told by her sister Celina: “In a situation in which Sister Teresa had shown me all my faults, I was sad and a little disoriented.”Here I am so far from virtue – I thought – I really wished to possess it, I would love to be sweet, patient, humble, charitable… Ah, I will never succeed. “However, in the evening, during prayer, I read that to St. Geltrude, who had expressed the same desire, our Lord had replied:”In all things and above all, have goodwill; this single provision will give your soul the splendour and special merit of all the virtues.Anyone who has good will, sincere desire to work for my glory, give me thanks, share in my sufferings, love me and serve me as much as creatures together, will undoubtedly receive rewards worthy of my generosity and his desire will sometimes be more beneficial than not for others, their good works. “Very happy for this good word – continues Sister Celina – all to my advantage, I informed our dear little teacher (Teresa) that the dose increased and added: “You read what is written in the life of Father Surin? He performed an exorcism; the demons said to him: “We manage to overwhelm everything, it is not that this bitch of good will to which we can never resist!”Well, unless you have virtue, at least you have a dog that will save you from all dangers; console yourself, it will take you to heaven! Ah, what is a soul that does not wish to possess virtue! It is the most common route! But how many little are the souls agree to fall and to be weak, who are happy to see each other on the ground and that others will seize the act!”[29]As evidenced by this text, the concept that Teresa had attained perfection is not perhapswhat we would automatically think.

Let us see how the believer of goodwill can, in the light of faith, overcome all the circumstances in which he tried to lose this peace.

Nota Bene: This translation was made for some of the Novices of the Hermits of Saint Bruno and was not intended for external use. In referencing this article the Ven. Fr. Dom. Ugo-Maria ESB (csr) in translation, he used the Douay-Rheims 1899 version of the Bible in all instances but one when the Biblia Sacra Vulgata was used. Dom. Ugo-Maria was not sure which version of the Bible Father Jacques Philippe had used and therefore a slight discrepancy appeared in this articles version of Romans 11:29 (Please see reference no. 22 below). Furthermore, Dom. Ugo-Maria has expanded on some of the referencing which was not present in the original Italian text to enable the reader of the English translation, to have more clarity. Dom. Ugo-Maria is not a linguist (although his native tongue is Italian and German, his tertiary education was completed in England. He therefore apologises for any inaccuracies in translation as they are not intentional.

10. Translated from the letters of Saint Catherine of Siena; III to the provost of Casole and to Giacomo of Mancio from the said place, she states “e della grande guerra fece la grandissima pace” and the great war made great peace.

11. The Tribe of Judah (שֵׁבֶטיְהוּדָה, Shevet Yehudah, “Praise”) was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel.

22. Translators explanation of Romans 11:29; N.B. “are without repentance”; that is, they are immutable and unalterable; God never revokes them, or calls them in again, or takes them away from the persons to whom he has made such a previous donation. The Scriptures in Hebrew state “that the holy blessed God, after שנתןהמתנה, “that he hath given a gift”, לאיקחנההמקבל, “never takes it away from the receiver”; and this is the “Gemara”, or doctrine of the Rabbins דמיהביהבימשקללאשקלי, “that giving they give, but taking away they do not take away”; the gloss upon it is,בתרדיהבי, “after it is given.”

27. An indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient.Originally a Latin legal term for “[a condition] without which it could not be”, or “but for…” or “without which [there is] nothing”.Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.September 2005.

29. Consigli e ricordi” It was composed by Celina, sister of Saint Therese de Lisieux, drawing on her personal diary – partly written when the saint was still alive -, at her own depositions prepared for the Canonical Processes and some memories.Ideal completion of the “Story of a Soul”, is a collection of anecdotes that portrays Saint Teresa de Lisieux (1873-1897), just twenty years old, in her commitment as a novice teacher, a commitment that will follow until her death.